July 4th I rode to pay my respects to the mobile Vietnam Wall Memorial and to deliver Cathy's cat to a good home in Aiken. I carefully packed the cat and its few material possessions on to the motorcycle. Jasmine meowed like police siren a few times on the ride up I-26; generally when merging back in after a 90+ mhp pass. She seemed to chill most of the way on I-20 though. I met with Dandy at the I-20 exit 22; he suggested I find some shade to the cat and I which I did. I could hear the Wall escort for several minutes before they came into view. The press says there were about 400 bikers but I think many more took part in this run (see Jim's comments below). I found a shady spot at Citizen's Park in Aiken and began searching for Jasmine's new friend Becky. Bad Bob arrived shortly after I parked.
Many of us rode to Hozes afterwards where free food was provided to all the riders who escorted the wall. I was pretty tired so I did not linger much longer than to rehydrate and eat. Bad Bob lived up to his name on our ride back to Columbia as the needle hardly dipped under 100 mph on the return trip. If you did not know where I got my name refer back to the previous sentence. ~FF
Jim Bronder's Wrap Up
The count was over a thousand. Per Aiken public safety, it stretched for
over 8 miles. There were 300 that left for Columbia from the Aiken waffle
house alone. They even had a helicopter overhead, so 400 hundred don't make
sense. I heard that news report also. Two of our newspapers have the count
somewhere between 1,100 and 1,200. The press was very positive, even our
county council chairman made the ride. He thanked us for our work in
Columbia. There were many stories surrounding the ride. A guy came up to me
at the truck stop with tears in his eyes, thanking us for doing it and said
he never knew we could be like this. Picked up some new members and made one
hell of a statement to the people of South Carolina.
The spin off from this
should also impact our role in the statehouse. Somebody please tell me if
anyone has put 8 miles of motorcycles on a South Carolina freeway for 50
miles before going into town? It scared the hell out of our local police. I
had told them there would be a thousand bikes but they must not have
believed me. As I understand it, when they finally knew it, they say the
scanners were on fire looking for back up. Hats off to the Richland,
Lexington and Aiken county sheriffs. They not only gave us respect but bent
over backwards to make this a safe ride. Here is the last one of many
stories.
A trucker at the Flying J truck stop, on his way from Wisconsin,
came running up and ask if he dropped his trailer could he follow us. I said
OK but you have to stay in back. He said thanks and did just that, following
us all the way, 65 miles to the park in Aiken. People were so moved by his
gesture, they took up a collection for his fuel to get back to the Flying J.
Ahh yes, just another fourth of July. One last comment, I lost count of the
Bronze Stars and Purple Hearts I saw on vests. I don't need to look for a
hero, they are riding beside me.
DEUCE
DIXIE THUNDER
